Inkstand



UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEioE.

JOSEPH W. ROSS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

' INKSTAND.

Specicaton forming part of Letters Patent No. 32,207, dated April l30, 1861; Ressued March 8,

` i 1864,No. 1,629.

To aZZ whom it may concern:`

Be it known that I, JOSEPH lV. Ross, of Boston,`in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Vnew and useful Improvements in Inksta-nds, and

that the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings hereinafter referred to, forms a full and exact specification of the saine, whereinl have set forth the nature and principles of my said improvements by which my invention may be distinguished from all others of a` similar class, together with such parts as I` claim and desire to have secured to me by Letters Patent.

The figures of the accompanying plate of drawings represent my improvements.

Figure l is a p-lan or top view. Fig. 2 is a side view. Fig. 3 is a central vertical section. Fig. 4 is a detail view to be hereinafter referred to.

One great disadvantage always to be met with in the use of stands or fountains for containing ink, has been that in consequence of the manner in which the samevhave been arranged, a greater portion or all of the surface of the ink was exposed to the atmosphere which absorbe-d its moisture and causedit to become thick and muddy Many inkstands have been invented to protect the ink from the deteriorating effects of exposure to the external air, or to render the inkstand after having been used, perfectly air-tight, but they have not generally succeeded in accomplishing the desired result of preserving the ink always in its liquefied state without so complicating their construction as to render them practically inoperative and very inconvenient in use.

By the arrangeinent'of the devices composing the inkstand according to my improvements, but a very small and inconsiderable portion of the surface of the ink is exposed to the external air and moreover the ink well or fountain can be so secured in the tops of the desksv used in school's-for which purpose my improvements are more particularly applicable-as to prevent any tampering with the saine and render its re.

c is the stand or the top of a desk, in

ter, thereby forming the shoulder or rest f for the lip b of the well or fountain, when placed in the socket c, to rest upon. In the larger portion e of the socket Z is a 4female screw g, which receives the male screw ZL attached to a thin top plate z'. To the top plate 'Z is also secured a tube j, in which is a float lo, the float being prevented from dropping out of the saine by a stopper Z placed in its lower end. In the float lo is a very smalll orifice mwhieh. extends through its entire thickness and its upper rimmed` out so as to form atunnel a.. An orifice 0 is also formed in the stopper Z, extending through its ent-ire thickness and which has communication with t-he ink bya gutter or way p in the lower surface of the stopper Z.

In the top plate z' of the inkstand is a mouth or opening g made of a square or any polygonalshape and in which fits a suitable key r represented in Fig. 4.

Having placed the key 7' in the mouth or opening g, by turning it in the proper direction the top plate z' will be forced homethat is, so as to bring it flush. or nearly so with the top of the desk or stand and in consequence of its thinness, it can never be unscrewed or removed without the use of the key, whereby any tampering with the same is entirely prevented. It will be evi- Vdent that in lieu of making the top plate cure the top plate i (and consequently'the ink well or fountain) as to prevent its being turned by means of the lingers alone.

Then the top plate Z is forced Vhome the Vlower surface of the stopper Z presses against the bottom of the well a and the rubber washer t placed upon the top of the same, is pressed or squeezed between the lip b and the under surface of the top plate t' which serves to render the ink well in a measure air-tight. Y

The well a having been sufficiently filled. with ink, placed in its socket c and the topplate z' screwed in the same as above described, the ink will rise in the tube j-passing through the orifice 0 of the stopper Z- to the same height as in the well and consequently raise the float c, which is sufliciently light to always remain, except when depressed by any external means, upon the top surface of the ink. The tube y' serving as a guide to the float 7c.

By thus arranging the inkstand, it will be seen that the amount of ink surface exposed to the external air, is the area of the very small and inconsiderable hole m of the float 7c, whereby the ink is prevented from becoming muddy and thick and always preserved y top plate z' as represented in Fig. 3. By thus l in its liquefied state.

By inserting the pen in the mouth or opening and tube j it will strike or inipinge against the float 7c causing it to descend and forcing up the ink through the hole m of the saine, and upon removing the pen the float if: will again resume its original position upon the surface of the ink. (In the drawings the ink is represented by dotted red lines Fig. 3.) l

u is a cover with a projection o upon its lower surface which turns in a socket of the top plate i. This cover u is secured to the top plate by a screw w which passes loosely through the projection o and screws into the hanging or securing the cover to the inkstand I obtain a reliable and permanent hinge and give more stability to the swinging-of the cover than could otherwise be obtained by the use of a single pivot. When the inkstand is not used, it is rendered per-v 2. The peculiar construction of the ink-v stand, by which I am enabled to lock it in or remove it from its stand or desk, the same consisting substantially of the screw h and top plate z' attached to or forming a part of the ink fountain and a polygonal shaped opening of suitable form to receive a key, as herein above described.

JOSEPH IV. BOSS. lVitnesses JOSEPH GAVETT, A. WV. BROWN.. 

